Daily news will speed up the preparation for the Civil Services Examination and it also plays a crucial role to grasp the current affairs topic comprehensively. Here we have covered most of the topics related to various categories including National, International, Sports, Science and Technology, and so on.
1. World Bank Development Committee Plenary
– Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 102nd Meeting of the Development Committee Plenary.
– The items on the agenda included Leaning Forward to Save Lives, Scale-up Impact and Get Back on Track: World Bank Group COVID-19 Crisis Response and Update Joint IMF-WBG Staff Note: Implementation and Extension of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative.
– The Finance Minister stated that collective action is the key for an effective response to the pandemic and welcomed the strong performance in Q4 of FY 2020 wherein World Bank Group has committed $45 billion for COVID-19 response.
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2. Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020
– Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural function of Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020, on 19th October, 2020.
– The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting, for the last 15 years, has fostered international innovation collaborations to address the biggest challenges in health and development.
– The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020 will convene virtually from 19th-21st October, bringing together policymakers and scientific leaders, calling for deepened scientific collaborations in solving global health problems, with great emphasis on COVID-19 with an “India for the World” framing.
– Approximately 1600 people from 40 countries will participate in this Annual meeting.
– The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020 will be co-hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, the Indian Council of Medical Research and NITI Aayog, along with the Grand Challenges Canada, the United States Agency for International Development and Wellcome.
Grand Challenges India was set up as a partnership of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2012.
– Wellcome also joined the partnership. Grand Challenges India works across a range of health and developmental priorities ranging from agriculture, nutrition, sanitation, maternal and child health to infectious diseases.
Daily Gist of ‘The Hindu’, ‘PIB’, ‘Indian Express’ and Other Newspapers: 16 October, 2020
3. Saviour Sibling
– Doctors successfully conducted India’s first ‘saviour sibling’ experiment, recently.
– The Saviour Sibling named Kavya saved her 6-year-old brother who was suffering from Thalassemia.
– In an hour-long procedure, 50- 200 ml bone marrow was harvested from Kavya and then given to her brother named Abhijeet through transfusion.
– For some time Kavya suffered from low haemoglobin but it was corrected with supplements and she was also suffering from pain in the areas where the bone marrow was taken for a few days. Currently, both Kavya and Abhijeey are healthy.
About ‘Saviour Sibling’
It refers to babies that are created to serve an older sibling as a donor or organs, bone marrow or cells. Saviour sibling’s stem cells from the umbilical cord blood or blood are used for the treatment of serious blood disorders like thalassemia, sickle cell anaemia.
Daily Gist of ‘The Hindu’, ‘PIB’, ‘Indian Express’ and Other Newspapers: 15 October, 2020
4. Gurkha Rights in Assam
– The Gurkha community in Assam has sought gazette notification ensuring that the safeguards according to Clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord are also extended to Gurkha people of Assam.
– Due to the recommendations of the high-level committee formed under the Chairmanship of Biplap Kumar Sharma, the demand for the safeguards by the Gurkha community further intensified. The committee is formed by the Union Home Ministry on Clause 6 of Assam Accord.
– It is recommended by the committee that all Gurkhas of Assam are not indigenous Assamese people as per the definition of Assamese people.
– Clause 6 of the Accord envisages constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards for protecting, preserving and promoting the culture, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.
Daily Gist of ‘The Hindu’, ‘PIB’, ‘Indian Express’ and Other Newspapers: 14 October, 2020
5. Saral Jeevan Bima
– It is a standard individual term life insurance product unveiled recently by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI).
– It will help customers to make an informed choice and reduce mis-selling.
– By January 1, 2021, all life insurers will have to offer the standard product.
– It will be a non-linked, non-participating individual pure risk premium life insurance plan providing for payment of the sum assured in a lump sum to the nominee in case of the insured’s death during the policy term.
– The eligibility of the plan will be for those in the 18-65 years age group.
– Policy term will be 5-40 years.
– It allows for a maximum maturity age of 70 years.
Daily Gist of ‘The Hindu’, ‘PIB’, ‘Indian Express’ and Other Newspapers: 13 October, 2020
6. Chapter proceedings
– The Mumbai police last week began “chapter proceedings” against Republic Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami.
About Chapter Proceedings
– They are preventive actions taken by the police if they fear that a particular person is likely to create trouble and disrupt the peace in society.
Here, the police can issue notices under sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure to ensure that the person is aware that creating nuisance could result in action against him, which includes paying a fine, in the absence of which, he could be put behind bars.
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